Just half of non-European men are employed in Belgium. Among women, employment rates drop to around 25%. The situation is better among non-Europeans holding Belgian citizenship: close to 60% of men and 40% of women are employed. The EU wants to bring down the difference between Europeans and non-Europeans down to less than 16.5%. In Belgium, the difference grew over the past four years from 27% to 28.6%.

Employment Minister De Coninck says this is due to the fact that many asylum-seekers were regularized for medical reasons and cannot work. (source 1, 2)